Hypopharyngeal cancer is a

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

in which

malignant Malignancy () is the tendency of a medical condition to become progressively worse. Malignancy is most familiar as a characterization of cancer. A ''malignant'' tumor contrasts with a non-cancerous ''benign'' tumor in that a malignancy is not s ...

cells grow in the

hypopharynx The pharynx (plural: pharynges) is the part of the throat behind the mouth and nasal cavity, and above the oesophagus and trachea (the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs). It is found in vertebrates and invertebrates, though its struct ...

(also known as the ''laryngopharynx'') the area where the larynx and esophagus meet. It first forms in the outer layer (

epithelium Epithelium or epithelial tissue is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. It is a thin, continuous, protective layer of compactly packed cells with a little intercellul ...

) of the hypopharynx (last part of the pharynx), which is split into three areas. Progression of the disease is defined by the spread of cancer into one or more areas and into deeper tissues. This type of cancer is rare. Only about 2,500 cases are seen in the US each year. Because of this, Hypopharyngeal Cancer is difficult to catch in its earliest stages and has one of the highest

mortality rate Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of de ...

s of any

head and neck cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

Signs and symptoms

Symptoms of Hypopharyngeal Cancer include: * Swollen

lymph node A lymph node, or lymph gland, is a kidney-shaped organ of the lymphatic system and the adaptive immune system. A large number of lymph nodes are linked throughout the body by the lymphatic vessels. They are major sites of lymphocytes that inclu ...

s in the neck (first sign of a problem in half of all patients) * Sore throat in one location that persists after treatment * Pain that radiates from the throat to the ears * Difficult or painful swallowing (often leads to malnutrition and weight loss because of a refusal to eat) * Voice changes (late stage cancer)

Cause

Factors that contribute to the development of hypopharyngeal cancer include: *

Smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...

Chewing tobacco Chewing tobacco is a type of smokeless tobacco product that is placed between the cheek and lower gum to draw out its flavor. Some users chew it, others do not. It consists of coarsely chopped aged tobacco that is flavored and often sweetened; ...

* Heavy

alcohol use An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol that acts Alcohol (drug), as a drug and is produced by Ethanol fermentation, fermentat ...

* Poor

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

* Bile reflux Smoking, like

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

, can cause hypopharyngeal cancer because it contains

carcinogens A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive substan ...

that alter the DNA or RNA in a dividing cell. These alterations may change a normal DNA sequence to an

oncogene An oncogene is a gene that has the potential to cause cancer. In tumor cells, these genes are often mutated, or expressed at high levels.

, a gene that causes cancer after exposure to a carcinogen.

Squamous cells Epithelium or epithelial tissue is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. It is a thin, continuous, protective layer of compactly packed cells with a little intercellu ...

, a type of cell that lines hollow organs like the throat, mouth, lungs, and outer layer of skin, are particularly vulnerable when exposed to cigarette smoke. Chewing tobacco can have the same effects as smoking and is also linked to hypopharyngeal cancer. The chewing tobacco is placed into the mouth, leaving it exposed to

enzymes Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecule ...

, like

amylase An amylase () is an enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of starch (Latin ') into sugars. Amylase is present in the saliva of humans and some other mammals, where it begins the chemical process of digestion. Foods that contain large amounts of ...

, which partly digests the carcinogenic material. Saliva is swallowed, along with the cancer-promoting material, which passes through the hypopharynx on its way to the esophagus. Heavy alcohol use is linked to hypopharyngeal cancer as well. Alcohol damages the lining of the hypopharynx, increasing the amount of chemicals that are allowed to seep into the underlying membranes. Heavy alcohol use is also associated with nutritional deficiencies.

Laryngopharyngeal reflux Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is the retrograde flow of gastric contents into the larynx, oropharynx and/or the nasopharynx. LPR causes respiratory symptoms such as cough and wheezing and is often associated with head and neck complaints such as ...

is considered to be a risk factor for development of hypopharyngeal cancer. Such reflux frequently contains

bile acid Bile acids are steroid acids found predominantly in the bile of mammals and other vertebrates. Diverse bile acids are synthesized in the liver. Bile acids are conjugated with taurine or glycine residues to give anions called bile salts. Primary b ...

s, and bile acid presence in the upper

aerodigestive tract {{Short pages monitor